The present invention generally relates to the field of web-based applications, and more specifically, to communication between a web-based application and a desktop application.
In some cases, the creators of a web-based application may also wish to provide users with a desktop application for viewing part or all of the information from the web-based application. For example, a particular organization might provide users with a web-based social networking application using their web application servers. Additionally, the company might provide users with a desktop application—i.e., an application written using an API of the underlying operating system that does not run within a web browser—that provides functionality specifically tailored to a specific aspect of the social networking application, such as chat. Given that a user may concurrently execute both the web-based application and the desktop application, it is desirable for changes in the state of the social networking application—such as substantive changes to the user interface layout—to be reflected in the desktop application, and vice-versa.
Using conventional communication techniques, however, any time that the provider of the web-based application wishes to add a new type of functionality, such as support for a new type of user interface change, the provider must update both the web-based application and the desktop application so that both can properly interpret the meaning of, and implement, the new functionality. For example, if the provider wishes to allow the web-based application to send a message to the desktop application that instructs the desktop application to make a particular user interface change, the web-based application must be updated to send the message and the desktop application must be updated to accept, interpret, and implement the message. Such updates may be inconvenient for a user who uses the social networking application, leading the user not to update the applications, with the result that the applications become outdated, not supporting the new functionality.